Sadly it looks like America's love affair with guns is unlikely to end anytime soon.

Courtesy of Science Daily:  

Despite growing up in a post-Columbine world, more young people plan on owning a gun than had them in their childhood homes, according to a national poll of more than 4,000 high school and college students conducted by Jennifer L. Lawless (American University) and Richard L. Fox (Loyola Marymount University). 

This finding suggests a possible reversal of a trend that pointed to decreasing gun ownership. More specifically, one-third of young people report growing up with a gun in the household. And 36 percent report being "very worried" about gun violence. Yet nearly 40 percent of respondents plan to own a gun when they have their own household, and an additional 20 percent are considering it.

You know they could pass a law tomorrow making it illegal to create any new movies or video games that glorify gun violence and it would not make a bit of difference going forward. The damage has already been done.

And the fact is that neither one of those two things is EVER going to happen.

And the reason why is because the all volunteer American military depends on these games and movies to indoctrinate our children into becoming a military fetishist, who spends hours a week fantasizing about being in combat and firing incredibly destructive weapons at enemy targets.

Don't believe me?

Well I have already shown you in an earlier post how the military has helped game designers make sure that the weapons in the games are accurate, where they serve as playable advertisements for later purchase when the child becomes an adult. (Or earlier, let's face it many of these kids today are substantially smarter than your average gun dealer.) In fact the military actually has their own video game, which they make available for free on a number of platforms. A game that will periodically ask the player if they are interested in enlisting, and even provide links to websites providing information on how to do so.

As for the movies? Well there is a very long standing agreement between the Pentagon and Hollywood that if you scratch my back, I will provide weaponry and military personnel to cover yours.

Courtesy of TV Tropes:

If you're American producer and you want to get some impressive combat scenes in your movie, you can call the Department of Defense (DoD) and ask for some of their fancy equipment. Plus any soldiers who happen to be free. As the examples show, Uncle Sam can be very generous to filmmakers and help you avert tropes like Artistic License - Military, Improperly Placed Firearms, and Just Plane Wrong. 

One reason for this is, if the film is positive about the military, it is good public relations, and thus the movie supports the mission. If the movie is really good — both a positive portrayal of the military and a box-office success — it may even be a boon for military recruiting. Indeed, the Navy stated that after the release of Top Gun, the number of young men enlisting with a desire to be Naval aviators went up by 500 percent. 

There's a catch — a Department of Defense project officer will keep an eagle eye on the script and production phases. If they don't like the portrayal of the military in your film, they will yank the co-operation.

So just put the idea of movies becoming less violent, or games using fewer assault weapons right out of your pretty little head. It's NOT going to happen. Essentially because despite all of the current rhetoric to the contrary the Right Wing, the government, and the military will never let it happen.

I actually DO think that some restrictions can be implemented, but first we have to stop allowing ourselves to be distracted by red herrings and obfuscation.

Guns DO kill people. And guns that have extended clips, and are sold by individuals who don't demand background checks,  kill a whole LOT of people.

We may not be able to stop all gun violence, but we can at least reduce the number of casualties. And for right now at least, I will take it.